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by Jean Paul Pallud.
Hardback (7.3×10.0 inches). 112 pages. 2024 from 2008.
Subtitle: Hitler’s Commanders at OB West
This is another After the Battle book, where photo-heavy articles in the magazine are reprinted in book form. The After the Battle theme is finding locations in WWII photographs and photographing them in a modern context.
In this case, it’s a 2008 article about various headquarters and defensive bunkers mostly in Paris and chateaus outside Paris. The book also includes stills from the movie The Longest Day where the actors filmed inside the WWII-era HQ buildings.
The text explains the HQ use of the buildings as well as architectural details. The photos showcase said buildings with the captions explaining what you see. On occasion, a caption needs a bit clearer identification of the people in it — the ol’ “two people but only one name” syndrome. If you are better at rank identification than I am, this may not be a problem.
One typo: “driven to Met” (p57) is likely driven to Metz.
The book contains 180 black and white photos and five black and white illustrations.
One of the photos (p82) is an aerial view of Paris you can use as a map to find concrete bunkers. A separate map (p83) does much the same thing.
Some of the wartime HQs are public buildings, or at least private buildings like hotels you can at least enter, but most are in private hands and unavailable for entry. For example, one of the bunkers was incorporated into a house (p94).
Next time you’re in Paris, you may want to see if you can find some of these places. If you can’t get there, here’s an alternative.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
